Joint reinforcement

ABSTRACT

A joint reinforcement having eye sections is manufactured using an inline process with concurrent assembly of the eye sections. Concurrent assembly of the eye sections provides more efficient manufacturing and the resulting joint reinforcement is less expensive to manufacture then conventional joint reinforcements. The joint reinforcement also can be manufactured to have uniform thickness for more efficient transport.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a joint reinforcement, and more particularly, to a joint reinforcement having an improved structure and method of manufacture that allows the eye sections to be welded in line.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Joint reinforcements are used to strengthen and stabilize walls constructed using masonry units. Joint reinforcements typically are either of a ladder type or a truss type. The ladder type joint reinforcement typically includes a pair of side rods having perpendicular cross rods that connect the two side rods. The truss type joint reinforcement has angled cross rods forming a zigzag pattern to connect the two side rods. The builder places the joint reinforcements between various courses in the masonry wall as dictated by the particular application and code requirements.

[0005] Sometimes, for example in multiwythe walls, joint reinforcements placed in the backup wythe also include eye sections to receive and hold pintle sections attached to an exterior wythe. FIG. 1 depicts such a conventional prior art joint reinforcement. Prior art joint reinforcement 10 includes a pair of side rods 12 a,b and cross rods 14. Joint reinforcement 10 also includes eye sections 16 a,b. Joint reinforcement 10 can be placed between courses in a backup wythe. Pintle sections are embedded in an exterior wythe placed in proximity to the backup wythe. The pintle sections extend away from the exterior wythe and then downwardly to protrude through eyes 17 a,b of eye sections 16 a,b to add strength and stability to the wythes.

[0006] Joint reinforcement 10 is manufactured by first using an inline process to manufacture side rods 12 a,b and connecting cross rods 14. Cross rods 14 are electric resistance welded to side rods 12 a,b. Subsequently, independently assembled eye sections 16 a,b are overlaid and welded onto side rod 12 a. Each eye section 16 a,b is manufactured as an integrated unit with two eyes 17 a,b, which requires material joining eye 17 a to eye 17 b. This is done so that eyes 17 a and 17 b can be readily spaced at the proper distance from one another to receive the pintle sections. Proper placement and welding of eye sections 16 a,b is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, welding eye sections 16 a,b onto side rod 12 a in this manner causes the side of joint reinforcement 10 with side rod 12 a to be thicker than the side with side rod 12 b. This makes the joint reinforcement difficult to position within a specified thickness of mortar joint and also limits the eye section to thin wire assemblies. Additionally, it makes stacking joint reinforcements 10 for transport difficult. Although flipping half of joint reinforcements 10 in the stack 180° allows for even stacking, this process is time consuming. Also, the extra thickness created by welding eye sections 16 a,b onto side rod 12 a limits the quantity of joint reinforcements 10 that can be stored in a given volume.

[0007] Thus, it would be desirable to have a process for manufacturing joint reinforcements, such as ladder and truss joint reinforcements, that connected eye sections in a more efficient manner, used less material for cost and weight savings, and resulted in joint reinforcements that could be readily stacked without alternating orientation, could be more densely stacked into a given volume of space, have greater application, and provide the installer a more productive product for usage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention comprises an improved joint reinforcement and method of manufacture. The joint reinforcement is manufactured using an inline process to manufacture a pair of side rods and at least one cross rod, or other means to interconnect the pair of side rods. Eye sections are manufactured and attached concurrently with the cross rods. The eye sections can be welded in any fashion to the side rod. The present invention results in a more efficient assembly of eye sections, a decrease in material used, yielding cost and weight savings, and an improved joint reinforcement that can be more densely stacked into a given volume, has enhanced application, provides optimal fit into a mortared joint and increases the productivity of the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art joint reinforcement;

[0010]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a joint reinforcement made in accordance with the present invention; and

[0011]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a joint reinforcement made in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0012] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a joint reinforcement 40 made in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a ladder type joint reinforcement, but the described embodiment is also applicable to truss type joint reinforcements or any other type of joint reinforcement. Joint reinforcement 40 includes a pair of side rods 42 a,b and one or more cross rods 44, or any other appropriate means of connecting side rods 42 a and 42 b. Joint reinforcement 40 also includes one or more eye sections 46 a-d for receiving pintle sections in eyes 47 a-d. In joint reinforcement 40, each eye section 46 a-d has only one corresponding eye 47 a-d. Thus, there is no material connecting eye section 46 a to eye section 46 b or connecting eye section 46 c to eye section 46 d. Although two pairs of eye sections 46 a-d are shown in FIG. 2, joint reinforcement 40 can include any appropriate number of eye sections positioned at suitable locations, for example to accommodate the desired number, type and location of pintle sections. Furthermore, although FIG. 2 shows eye sections 46 a-d positioned on either side of cross rods 44, eye sections 46 a-d can be positioned at any location along either side rod 42 a,b or both side rods 42 a,b.

[0013] Joint reinforcement 40 is manufactured by using an inline process to manufacture side rods 42 a,b and cross rods 44. Eye sections 46 a-d are manufactured concurrently with cross rods 44 by simultaneously feeding and cutting material for both cross rods 44 and eye sections 46 a-d. A free end of eye section 46 a-d is bent into a loop to form eye 47 a-d, respectively. Cross rods 44 and eye sections 46 a-d are simultaneously attached, for example, by electronic resistance welding or any other type of welding, onto side rod 42 a. Eye sections 46 a-d may be lap welded or welded in any other fashion. The attachment occurs at a welding station having at least one point of contact. The welding station may, for example, have 4 points of contact—two for the ends of cross rod 44, one for eye section 46 a and one for eye section 46 b. Alternatively, the welding station may have any number of points of contact appropriate for a given application. There can be one such welding station or many, depending on the user's requirements.

[0014] This method of manufacturing joint reinforcement 40 is more efficient than conventional methods, because no secondary assembly is required. The production and welding of eye sections 46 a-d concurrently to the production and welding of cross rods 44 saves time and money over conventional manufacturing methods. Joint reinforcement 40 also provides savings in terms of material because eye sections 46 a-d require less material than conventional eye sections, such as eye sections 16 a,b, for joint reinforcements. In particular, conventional eye sections 16 a,b each have two corresponding eyes 17 a,b and require material to connect the eyes. Eye sections 46 a-d of the present invention have only one eye 47 a-d, and therefore do not include material to connect eye section 46 a to eye section 46 b or to connect eye section 46 c to eye section 46 d.

[0015] Now referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a joint reinforcement 60 made in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a ladder type joint reinforcement, but the described embodiment is also applicable to truss type joint reinforcements or any other type of joint reinforcement. Joint reinforcement 60 includes a pair of side rods 62 a,b and one or more cross rods 64, or other appropriate means of connecting side rods 62 a,b. Joint reinforcement 60 includes one or more eye sections 66 a-d for receiving pintle sections in eyes 67 a-d. Although two pairs of eye sections 66 a-d are shown in FIG. 3, joint reinforcement 60 can include any appropriate number of eye sections positioned at suitable locations to accommodate the desired number, type and location of pintle sections. Furthermore, although FIG. 3 shows eye sections 66 a-d positioned on either side of cross rods 64, eye sections 66 a-d can be positioned at any location along either side rod 62 a,b or both side rods 62 a,b.

[0016] Joint reinforcement 60 is manufactured in a similar manner to joint reinforcement 40 of FIG. 2. However, eye sections 66 a-d of joint reinforcement 60 are butt welded to side rod 62 a. This yields the advantage that joint reinforcement 60 has an essentially uniform thickness, unlike conventional joint reinforcement 10 of FIG. 1 or joint reinforcement 40 of FIG. 2. This provides a more efficient usage of the product due to a better fit within a specified confined mortar joint thickness. The process also allows for a thicker side rod width to be used. Use of a thicker side rod provides a greater area of steel in the wall, therefore making the product more applicable for optimal structural conditions. Additionally, when a plurality of joint reinforcements 60 have to be transported to a job site, they can be readily stacked without having to alternate the orientation of various joint reinforcements 60. Moreover, the lesser thickness of joint reinforcement 60 allows more joint reinforcements 60 to be stored in a given volume of space. This yields additional cost savings in transporting joint reinforcements 60.

[0017] Thus, there has been described a method for manufacturing joint reinforcements that attaches eye sections in a more efficient manner and requires less material to be used to manufacture the eye sections. This method creates a product with greater utility and efficient installation. Joint reinforcements manufactured in accordance with the present invention also can be readily stacked for transport and stacked more densely than conventional joint reinforcements.

[0018] Whereas the present invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various changes and modifications will be suggested to one skilled in the art and it is intended that the invention encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for making a joint reinforcement having eye sections, comprising the steps of: providing a first side rod moveable in an axial direction; providing a second side rod moveable in the axial direction and substantially parallel to the first side rod; providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods; feeding at least one eye section adjacent to the first side rod; and attaching the at least one eye section to the first side rod concurrently with the interconnecting means being attached to the first and second side rods.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods comprises the step of interconnecting the first and second side rods with at least one cross rod attached perpendicular to the first and second side rods.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods comprises the step of interconnecting the first and second side rod with at least one cross rod attached at an angle of less than 90° with one of said first and second side rods.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of attaching the at least one eye section to the first side rod in a direction perpendicular to the first side rod.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of welding the at least one eye section to the first side rod.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of lap welding the at least one eye section to the first side rod.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of butt welding the at least one eye section to the first side rod.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of attaching at least one eye section that has only one eye.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein said attaching step comprises the step of attaching at least one eye section that has only one eye.
 10. A method for making a joint reinforcement having eye sections, comprising the steps of: providing a first side rod moveable in an axial direction; providing a second side rod moveable in the axial direction and substantially parallel to the first side rod; providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods; feeding at least one eye section adjacent to the first side rod; and butt welding the at least one eye section to the first side rod.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of feeding at least one eye section adjacent to the first side rod comprises the step of feeding at least one eye section that has only one eye.
 12. A method for making a joint reinforcement having eye sections, comprising the steps of: providing a first side rod moveable in an axial direction; providing a second side rod moveable in the axial direction and substantially parallel to the first side rod; providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods; feeding at least one eye section having only one eye adjacent to the first side rod; and attaching the at least one eye section to the first side rod.
 13. An apparatus, comprising: a first side rod; a second side rod substantially parallel to said first side rod; at least one member interconnecting said first and second side rods; at least one eye section, having only one eye, attached to said first side rod.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said at least one interconnecting member is a cross rod attached perpendicular to said first and second side rods.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said at least one interconnecting member is a cross rod attached at an angle of less than 90° with one of said first and second side rods.
 16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said at least one eye section is coplanar with said first and second side rods.
 17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said at least one eye section is welded to said first side rod.
 18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said at least one eye section is butt welded to said first side rod.
 19. An apparatus, comprising: a first side rod; a second side rod substantially parallel to said first side rod; at least one member interconnecting said first and second side rods; and at least one eye section butt welded to said first side rod.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said at least one eye section has only one eye.
 21. A method for making a joint reinforcement having eye sections, comprising the steps of: providing a first side rod moveable in an axial direction; providing a second side rod moveable in the axial direction and substantially parallel to the first side rod; providing a means for interconnecting the first and second side rods; feeding at least two eye sections, at least one of which is fed adjacent to the first side rod and at least one of which is fed adjacent to the second side rod; and attaching the at least two eye sections by attaching at least one eye section to the first side rod and attaching at least one eye section to the second side rod concurrently with the interconnecting means being attached to the first and second side rods.
 22. An apparatus, comprising: a first side rod; a second side rod substantially parallel to said first side rod; at least one member interconnecting said first and second side rods; at least two eye sections, each having only one eye, at least one of said eye sections being attached to said first side rod and at least one of said eye sections being attached to said second side rod. 